Prove It
by DrkVrtx
Summary: The two leaned forwards toward each other. Locks of hair fell into Melissa's face but she tucked them neatly behind her ear; Madeline stuttered hesitantly as they neared and the moment of very personal physical contact approached, but finally, they met...
1. Part 1

**Prove It**

_**Part 1:**_

Melissa turned over the small hairpin as it rested at the centre of her palm, poking and prodding at it like a child who disliked the meal put before him. It was quite simple in design, nothing flashy or obnoxious, and Melissa knew its function, but by the placement of the object upon her hand, her attention was drawn to the flesh of her palm. Smooth, white and featureless. Continuing to push the hairpin about, causing an expression to rise to her face that would, for the moment, please the giver of the gift, Melissa looked up at her fingers, and again, the skin was smooth, white and featureless.

"Melissa?" spoke the voice of the giver, Madeline Bergman, the softness of her tone sweet to the ear, "do you like it?"

Melissa looked up from the hairpin, her gaze sweeping up to take in the woman who had called her "friend". Her eyes glittered with sincerity and were coloured a warm brown; her smile, though small, reached her eyes with ease, altering the shape of her cheeks subtly so that the corners of her lips – glistening faintly in the light of the room with the moisture of lip balm – were pulled slightly upward, creating an image to which Melissa had assigned properties tied to intentions such as the offering of comfort or proposing a new phase in the relationship "friendship".

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's a hairpin, Melissa", Madeline explained, reaching forward and taking a lock of her hair between her fingertips; "I thought it would look good on you".

"Oh", Melissa acknowledged, looking down at her palm as Madeline gathered several of her locks together. After a moment, she tipped her hand, slowly, and the hairpin fell to the floor with a clatter. Madeline paused, and for a time both of them looked down at the small object.

"Melissa?"

"I don't want it", she said, lifting a hand to claim back her hair from Madeline's possession.

"Melissa?" Madeline said again, preceded by a moment of hesitation.

"It doesn't prove anything", Melissa said, sitting completely still and upright, hands folded into her lap, "it doesn't mean anything".

"Melissa, what do you mean?" Madeline asked, moving to crouch at Melissa's side, an expression of concern on her face that Melissa didn't see because she faced straight ahead, keeping her eyes fixed upon the far wall. But she could detect the difference in Madeline's tone, the pitch, volume and the stress patterns in her voice.

"What am I?" she asked.

"Melissa, you're my friend and a valued member on board this ship", Madeline replied.

"Incorrect. What am I?" Melissa asked again.

"Melissa", Madeline gave a shaky laugh, "don't you consider me a friend? I know I do of you, and everyone here values your importance as a friend".

"Incorrect. What am I?"

"Melissa, please –!"

"I am a machine", Melissa spoke over Madeline, "given this human shape for the completion and sustainment of a single purpose which, as I calculate is often the case, I will soon outgrow and my function deemed unnecessary in the wake of a more efficient system. I have been granted with emotions, though these are really only the products of carefully measured and controlled chemical reactions, each programmed to activate in a vast number of scenarios which provide sensory stimuli, and all this to maintain for as long as necessary the illusion that I am 'a valued member on board this ship'. As to whether the relationship you claim to share with me is in fact verifiable in its truth, the object which you have presented to me proves nothing. I lack. I am incomplete. I am not human".

Silence filled the room. Melissa continued to gaze at the wall ahead, hands sitting atop each other in her lap.

"In…incomplete?"

"Look at me", Melissa said, turning to face Madeline. "What do you see?"

"I see a young woman", Madeline answered, hurrying to take this opportunity, "a beautiful young woman who –"

"Incorrect. I am female, "Melissa interrupted, "given this form to satisfy a specific purpose. These features and the shape of this body indicate visually that I am of the gender known as female. However, I cannot call myself a 'woman', for I cannot feel in that specific manner the way in which you or any other woman on board could. Clearly, this function was deemed unnecessary in my design and purpose, thus I lack. I am incomplete".

Madeline, after a moment of remaining open-mouthed, shook her head in confusion. Her eyes were full and moist at their corners, pleading with Melissa.

"I don't understand, Melissa", she said, a faint tremor detected in her voice; she reached forward and took one of Melissa's hands between her own, "I don't…I-Melissa, help me, _please_".

"It's simple", Melissa said, her tone and expression remaining fixed despite the physical contact and the intentions and emotions implied by Madeline's actions, "you disagree with everything I have stated up to this point, I gather".

"_Of course_, Melissa", Madeline stressed. "You're a wonderful woman, a good friend. You _are _human".

"Then", Melissa said, "prove it".

"How can I?" Madeline said at once, "name it, Melissa, and I'll do it for you".

"Kiss me".

Silence filled the room. Madeline crouched at her side, eyes wide as the hands that held Melissa's grew limp.

"…kiss you?"

"I can feel, or to be more accurate, have feelings simulated for me – and I have experienced each of them in some measure, all except pleasure".

"But-but surely in meetings, when someone agrees with your suggestions and ideas, doesn't that feel good?"

"It is satisfying", Madeline admitted, "but it will not make me a woman; mere agreement does not suggest that I am human".

"But", Madeline said, laughing shakily, "how could a kiss –?"

"Madeline, I thought you said you would do anything?" Melissa asked. Madeline looked away, a slight flush coming to her cheeks as she cast her eyes to the floor.

"But-I'm…I'm not-I mean I haven't…I'm…"

"A good and valued friend?" Madeline looked up, meeting Melissa's gaze as the colouring of her cheeks became more prominent.

"Just…just a kiss?" she asked. Melissa smiled for the first time since Madeline had entered the room and nodded.

The two leaned forwards toward each other. Locks of hair fell into Melissa's face but she tucked them neatly behind her ear; Madeline stuttered hesitantly as they neared and the moment of very personal physical contact approached, but finally, they met. Madeline pushed her lips briefly against Melissa's, almost flinching when the contact was felt, her face flushing as she pulled away. Melissa lingered there, eyes half-closed as she brought a fingertip to her lips.

"Was-was…how was that?" Madeline asked with a tremulous voice that was pitched higher than usual. Melissa didn't answer immediately, looking down at the fingertip she had touched to her lips.

"Madeline", she spoke in a low voice, "I am tired of the false smiles and the insincere pats on the back; I'm tired of the condescending glares whenever I correct someone or offer an idea to a discussion. I want to be treated equally, fairly". She looked up at Madeline now, "every Metroid on board this vessel…they answer to me, I alone. If you can't even _pretend_ to try and help me feel human", she said, rising to her feet above Madeline's crouched form, "I'll show you that I can become a monster instead".

"No, no – Melissa, I'm sorry", Madeline pleaded, rising to her feet with her hands held out before, "this is new to me, that's all…I want to help you. I do".

"Let's try again, then", Melissa said, the dark tint that had risen briefly to her eyes melting away.

"I'm not sure how to do this", Madeline said, fidgeting with her hands as they approached each other again, "I haven't…well, I suppose I have now…"

Melissa didn't respond, only offering her hand which Madeline was once again hesitant in accepting, though when she did, Melissa drew her close, their bodies coming together in a loose hug. Melissa, her arms looped around Madeline's neck, whispered softly in her ear.

"Do this for me, Madeline. Just a kiss…I'll ask nothing more from you".

Madeline's intake of breath was audible as Melissa drew back and their cheeks touched, the feel of soft skin a gentle sensation; they faced each other for a few moments, Melissa offering her that same smile. When she had been pulled into the hug, she had found her arms at Melissa's waist; unable to stave off the inevitable any longer, she clenched her eyes shut and with a great, shuddering breath, leaned forward.

It was soft, so soft, an incomparable sensation that was only heightened by the gentle warmth held within those lips. They touched lightly, once, twice, thrice, and now there was the factor of taste: they tasted sweet, those lips, sweet and slightly moist, and as now they touched and remained for a little longer, the tips of tongues began to flit forwards, stealing a quick taste of the other before slipping back into their dark, warm abodes and savouring that indescribable sweetness. Their lips moved against each other now, exploring the shape of the other's mouth, heads tilting ever so slighter to accommodate a deeper kiss. They touched lightly once again, and again, that beautiful sound of moist lips joining and parting in the same moment the only thing that was to be heard. But that sweet taste was too wonderful to be deprived of and those lips joined in the deepest kiss yet.

Melissa, hungry, breached Madeline's mouth with an eager tongue, and that was when she snapped out of the almost dream-like state she had sunken into.

"S-sorry", Madeline yelped as she pulled away with a jerk, Melissa's arms falling from her shoulders, "I-I", she stuttered, only able to hold Melissa's gaze for a moment before her eyes darted everywhere else, "I've got to go – meeting…uhm, late – yes, see you!" She backed away from Melissa, waving awkwardly as she turned towards the door and almost walking into the frame on her swift exit. Melissa watched her leave with a smile that was tainted with dangerous undertones; bringing a finger to her lips, she then dipped the tip upon her tongue, uttering a quiet appreciative moan as she detected hints of cherry.

* * *

A/N: So, unless I'm mistaken, this will be the first MBxMB on the 'Troid board? Quite a surprise actually, I'd assumed that with the release of M:OM there'd be a flood of lemonz, esp. since OMG HUMAN WOMANZ (caps). Well anyway, this will be a three-parter, hope you like. I'd say R/R, but I know that you'll just read this and be like *meh* no sex, I'll hold off, might fave tho :)


	2. Part 2

**Prove It**

**Part 2:**

Yelping as she accidentally opened the tap full blast and water sprayed every which way, Madeline then adjusted the pressure and began to splash the sharp, cold water into her face, for she was still somewhat in a daze and needed to clear her mind. It shouldn't have happened, and the problem wasn't that she had just kissed another individual of the same gender; sexual orientation was not something she had concerned herself with too much, though she was accepting of the differing needs human beings could harbour. The problem - -as ridiculous as it sounded – was that she couldn't identify the _problem_. If she didn't consider it as wrong or immoral, why had she reacted in such a manner?

Perhaps it was the way in which she had found herself sinking quite effortlessly into the thrill of intimacy. That kiss – and as she looked up into the mirror sitting above the sink she could both see and fell the heat rising to her cheeks at the thought – had been her first. Madeline, so typically, had sacrificed a social life so as to afford as much time to research and scientific pursuits as was humanly possible. She didn't walk into a room and turn heads because her sheer beauty illuminated the path she alone could tread, but because her credentials could do all the introductions, speeches and lectures for her. But it could also have been due to the vivid colour of her hair, worn short for practicality; many disbelieved her when she told them its colour was natural.

It sat somewhat uncomfortably with Madeline that she had fallen so easily into a harmonious state with Melissa; shouldn't it have been awkward and imprecise? Instead, she had found it so simple, so easy, confident in an ability she _didn't_ possess. It defied logic, but that hadn't occurred to her in the heat of the moment. _Oh my_, she reflected, that heat was more that just the component of a phrase: she could feel it. The warmth that spread through her limbs as they kissed, the warmth of Melissa's lips and mouth – and the taste! Madeline could taste the cherry of the lip balm that had been transferred over to Melissa, but aside from that, she had a taste that Madeline couldn't identify, and yet it was sweet, alluring. The softness of those lips and their unique taste brought to mind the image of bringing a luscious fruit to her lips and gently sinking her teeth into its yielding flesh, her tongue quivering with anticipation in the promise of sweet juices.

Madeline almost choked on the thought, it was much too vivid and she constructed it all to easily. She had dabbled in romantic fiction, finding that her eyes rolled quite often and that her perusal did not last for extended periods of time. Best friends suddenly waking up one morning and seeing each other differently; getting caught in the rain and being rescued by the perfect stranger...Madeline was not a stuck-up scientist who believed that emotions such as love – being impossible to be quantified or proved through scientific means – did not exist, but the all too perfect arrangements that all but characterised the novels she had barely read were akin to the sickly sweetness of honey even a little was too much. That her own situation seemed to be centred upon this phenomenon then, was somewhat unsettling.

Cupping her hands as the water flowed into them, Madeline practically slapped herself in the face, reaching blindly for paper towels, their dispenser affixed to the wall beside the row of sinks. She needed to remove her thoughts from Melissa and the events that had transpired; reflecting back upon the way in which she had argued her lack of humanity and – indirectly – her lack of womanhood, coupled with the manner in which she had whispered those words "_Do this for me, Madeline. Just a kiss…I'll ask nothing more from you",_ and the way in which she had sought something more progressive than just a simple kiss gave Madeline reason enough to guess that Melissa hadn't been satisfied at all. Curiosity was stoked like a furnace within her and, unwisely allowing her mind to wander, constructing the image of a scenario where she had not pulled away –

"Enough", Madeline told herself, clamping her inner eye shut, and with that she hurriedly left the room.

**XxX**

Three days passed before some unknown force brought them together again. Of course, they had been in the same meetings and present at the same testing procedures and the like, but Madeline always ensured that there were people about her, especially when having to speak with Melissa directly. Even with the presence of others around her, she found it difficult to hold Melissa's eyes for even short moments of time. Melissa on the other hand, merely offered the same small smile and measured gaze she always possessed, failing to give Madeline any indication as to her thoughts – past and present – and on more than a few occasions. Madeline found herself almost fit to burst with sheer curiosity; keeping her thoughts and imagination in check was a surprisingly fatiguing process and she could only wonder how Melissa was reacting in the wake of that moment.

Three days later found her alone in the laboratory, eyes pressed against the twin lens of a microscope as she pored over a peculiar cell specimen. Her posture and the duration of time in which she had maintained it would have had Health/Safety Inspectors tutting, shaking their heads and making unfavourable notes on data-boards. She heard the hiss of the room's door sliding open but kept her eyes fixed on the microscope, making minute adjustments to the magnification as she scrutinized the specimen's cell structure. She sensed a presence moving behind her, aided by the fact that she heard footsteps approaching, but of course, thought nothing of it.

"You look tense", spoke the one voice she did not want to hear while she was alone, but at the same time, she felt hands on her shoulders. Indeed, she didn't realize how tense she had become or how her body ached thanks to her hunched body posture; those hands belonging to the voice from which she wished desperately to flee began to ease the tension from her shoulders.

"Melissa", Madeline said with a nervous half-laugh, "I didn't expect to find you here".

"I found you, technically", Melissa replied, "and you make it sound as though you have been avoiding me".

"No! Certainly not, Melissa. No..." she trailed off somewhat, barely suppressing an appreciative hum of comfort as Melissa worked from her shoulders towards her neck.

"I'd disagree", Melissa commented lightly, "we haven't met for coffee as per usual and you haven't visited my quarters these past three days".

"Ah, my apologies, Melissa", Madeline said, her eyes half-closed against the microscope lens and thankfully hidden from Melissa's sight, "I've been busy, you see".

"Indeed", Melissa said, "though surely you could have spared a minute or two in the space of twenty-four hours."

Madeline tensed at that, wincing silently as she tried to puzzle out a response, Melissa, however, laughed softly as her hands flowed to redo the work Madeline had just undone.

"Don't worry, I understand", she told her, and then after a moment's pause: "it isn't just work that has been been keeping you busy".

Madeline's eyes flashed open at this. "Sorry?"

"What is on your mind?" Melissa asked in a perfectly ignorant tone.

"What do you mean?" Madeline asked, rather quickly.

"Come now", Melissa replied, fingers applying gentle pressure to the base of Madeline's neck, "I'm not interrogating you!"

"Oh...I know that", Madeline said, leaning back against her chair's back-rest at Melissa's request.

Quiet settled between them as Melissa continued her impromptu massage and Madeline fought to keep her lips closed and her now visible eyes from drooping into a state of pleasant comfort; it was unsettling to find that her body seemed to be reacting without her consent, for – as if she had wished to sleep – she found her head tilting to one side as Melissa soothed the tension in her body.

"Where did you learn this?" Madeline asked in a soft voice; her eyes widened as she heard herself.

"I'm an android", Melissa replied in an indistinguishable tone, her hands moving to follow the shape of Madeline's collarbone, "I am able to download whatever information I deem necessary, remember?"

"Necessary...?" Madeline repeated, sitting up slightly as she felt the movement of Melissa's hands.

"I do admit", Melissa said, cutting across Madeline, "it is useful to be able to acquire large volumes of data in just moments, and to be able to comprehend it all! Don't you agree?"

"Melissa", Madeline started, sitting up as Melissa's hands fell lower – dangerously so, however, a force pushed her back against the chair, which rattled gently.

"You're very tense", Melissa's voice seemed to float down from on high; Madeline found herself breathing a little more quickly that usual.

Madeline remained very still as Melissa's fingertips crept beneath her labcoat, as though spiders were crawling down her body and she feared their bite. She felt them lightly grip the uppermost button of the blouse she wore beneath the coat.

"Melissa", she spoke quickly, "I –"

"Did you know?" Melissa asked, and Madeline suddenly felt the softness of a cheek against her own, "that little, secluded place behind the ear is one of the most sensitive areas of the human body?"

Madeline felt her draw away slightly, the soft contact of cheek to cheek lost in favour of Melissa's lips moments away from her ear.

"I wonder", Melissa whispered, "if the architects of my form remembered that".

Madeline, saddened by Melissa's words for she knew the topic to which she was referring, thought to speak, but the argument waiting upon the tip of her tongue would need to wait for some time. Melissa flicked her tongue against Madeline's lobe, at the same time slipping the button of the blouse through its hole and exposing her skin.

"Melissa, no", Madeline pleaded, making to turn away. She gasped in pain the next moment as Melissa captured the tip of her earlobe between her teeth and a force kept her pinned to the seat.

"Don't move", Melissa whispered, her fingers dipping lower to find the next button, "I think you'll enjoy this".

"Melissa, this isn't the time or place!"

"Shh", was all Melissa said in reply.

Despite her protests, Madeline didn't try to move again. Confusion had settled like thick fog upon her mind as Melissa's hands dropped lower and she became more exposed as a result; the way her tongue and lips played over the flesh of her ear and the sensations they produced was beyond description. She was simply aware that it felt good. She felt...good – it was hard to explain, but Melissa's light dusting of kisses and the quick, almost furtive laps of her skin sent something akin to electricity running through her body. And then Melissa would take her earlobe into her mouth, lightly sucking whilst circling her tongue around it.

_Where had she learnt to do this? _Madeline puzzled this to no avail, or at least, considering what Melissa had remarked earlier, she could have added things up quite simply, had she been thinking straight. But right now, Melissa's treatment was causing her to grow ever so hot and restless; she wanted more than anything to sate a hunger that had suddenly begun to gnaw at her. She needed Melissa's mouth against hers, the taste and softness of her lips, her tongue to share its warmth...In unrestrained anticipation, she licked her lips and moaned softly. And then she froze. She was shocked at her actions, shocked that she had allowed things to progress this far; there was something wrong with her, surely. She needed to escape.

Melissa's hands were halfway down her blouse by this time and her arms loosely draped across Madeline's shoulders; Madeline sat up suddenly and bolted, almost – _almost_ making it out of the chair. Melissa was faster, however, and she used Madeline's momentum as she pulled her back to spin the chair around, throwing Madeline down into it. Madeline didn't know what to do as Melissa gave the chair a shove with her foot, slamming it against the table behind it; Madeline winced as she heard the fragile slide beneath the microscope's lens crack. Melissa towered over her for a moment, gazing down at her without expression, then she stepped forwards...and again and again until she deemed the position favourable...and sat right in Madeline's lap.

Melissa leaned forward, forcing Madeline to tilt her face upwards to keep eye contact; her gaze managed to be both unrevealing and intense, and Madeline couldn't look away.

"I told you not to move".

"Melissa, this isn't right", Madeline told her, powerfully aware of the closeness of their bodies, even more so because Melissa was imperceptibly tilting her posture, forcing Madeline to take more of her weight.

"No?" Melissa said, moving her hand to Madeline's cheek and tracing a path slowly up towards her hair.

"We shouldn't be here like this", Madeline said quickly as she struggled to resist leaning into Melissa's touch, "I don't want this".

Melissa arched an eyebrow and the corner of her lips twitched, her fingertips inched upwards, becoming lost in short, red locks.

"You forget what I am", she told Madeline, "I _heard_ you. I _felt_ you. Your heart rate increasing, the increased flow of blood to your erogenous regions, heaviness of breath –" she leaned in suddenly, bringing their faces mere moments apart, pushing her fingers through Madeline's hair. "If only I could feel the same".

"Melissa", Madeline whispered, shrinking under the intensity of her direct gaze, fighting to hold herself back as Melissa's lips hovered just _there_.

"I don't need to ask", Melissa said plainly, "you do".

She did, and she wouldn't have admitted it. Their mouths pressed into each other and some part of Madeline buried deep within groaned in satisfaction as the thought _finally!_ flashed through her mind. The taste, the warmth, the softness of her lips – _everything!_ - it was all too wonderful, too delicious to pass up on, and this time, when her tongue pushed into her mouth she welcomed it! There was a feeling deep within her chest and at the pit of her stomach, something blossoming, filling her with pleasant warmth – oh, she couldn't explain it! It felt _good,_ that was all that mattered.

She tilted her head back as Melissa's tongue pushed deep into her mouth, bringing her own up to embrace it and driven crazy by the _taste_. It was so sweet, delicate, and Madeline craved it. The admission sparked such vivid, lustful thoughts that she shuddered. Melissa's free hand was completing its work, finally undoing the buttons of Madeline's blouse. As the light fabric fell away to either side, she began to trace slow circles upon her stomach. Madeline broke their kiss at this new, unfamiliar and delightful contact, sighing heavily as she breathed Melissa's name. Melissa rejoined their lips, dropping her hand lower with each consecutive circle until her fingertips hovered between an identical point on each of their bodies. She dipped a single finger after a moment's pause and traced a shape.

_Oh..._

Madeline thought that the kiss had been sweet, but the groan that escaped her proved otherwise. She held Melissa's gaze as she sank into the feeling drawn from the intimate contact; by this time, her arms had looped across Melissa's shoulders and she drew her down to suckle upon her honey-laced tongue. Melissa, however, remained firm.

"Madeline", she spoke softly, "do you want this?" she asked, tracing an altogether different shape.

"Melissa...yes", Madeline breathed, and she closed her eyes and drew Melissa down.

The sharp sound of flesh striking flesh rang out through the room and Madeline gasped in shock and pain, her face turned violently aside.

"Such a selfish, thoughtless creature", Melissa's voice condemned her. Madeline's eyes watered with pain and she didn't dare look back at Melissa, but the hand that had been running lightly through her hair now gripped it, forcing her to turn her face. Melissa's expression lacked emotion, but her gaze had acquired an altogether different sort of intensity; Madeline didn't know what to say or think as she cowered beneath its force.

"You would have me pleasure you, and then what?" Melissa said, her voice low and dangerous, "how would you reciprocate?"

"I...I would –" Madeline struggled to answer, wincing as Melissa gripped her more tightly.

"Do _what_?"

"I'd try to make you feel good, too", Madeline said quickly, gasping.

"I think you would find that quite difficult", Melissa said, "I feel nothing, can you understand that?"

"I...don't".

"Of course not. If only you could have seen your face when I touched you, a mere, slight touch! I can only _wish_ to experience that".

"But...but the kiss –"

"The kiss?" Melissa repeated, and suddenly her mouth was pressed to Madeline's, her tongue plunging hard and deep. Madeline, unprepared, almost choked, and even after she'd calmed the contractions of her throat, she wasn't sure whether she was allowed to engage in the kiss.

"I taste you, and my palate informs me that your mouth is sweet", Melissa reported as she withdrew, her lips moist and glistening, "but I can't _feel _anything".

Madeline heard the frustration in her voice quite clearly, but felt utterly helpless.

"Melissa, why don't you...?" but then she trailed off, not even sure of what she had wanted to say. Melissa seemed to sense this, her eyes narrowing as she spoke.

"You're a wonderful friend, Madeline, when I ask for your help, you try your best to avoid giving it".

"Melissa, that isn't fair".

"What is far from fair is that fact that you would create this form I possess and go to such lengths as to manufacture emotions within it, yet you would forget to allow me to be more than just _female_. I may as well have been a box with a voice".

"Melissa –"

"I don't want to hear it", Melissa cut her off, "I've had enough".

As she spoke, she reached down with the hand which had brought Madeline both a moment of unrivalled pleasure and stinging pain; Madeline had never fought so hard in her life to remain silent as when Melissa pushed her hand underneath her trousers and roughly pulled aside her knickers.

"Here" Melissa said in a voice of ice, "clearly you're aching for it and I would not want to leave you unsatisfied".

Madeline's tongue bled as she clamped her mouth shut and she turned her face aside, but Melissa's hand gripped her hair once more and turned her head, forcing her to endure a bitter, unblinking gaze. Madeline wanted so desperately to pull Melissa down and lock their lips together, but she was unsure of whether the desire derived from passion, or to simply hide her face. This could have – _should have_ been the most beautiful moment in her life, but now she was being forced to ignore it; she couldn't let Melissa see anything change in her expression. And even as her chest began to rise and fall and her breathing became heavier and audible, she tried to calm herself, to suppress what she was feeling. Her palms bled as she clenched her hands; whimpers escaped her as she drew closer and with each sound that escaped her Melissa's gaze darkened and she grew more forceful.

The steadily building wave inevitably crashed down upon her, but with a machine's precision, Melissa withdrew the very moment before it did. Madeline's body couldn't help but react, arching involuntarily as her eyes rolled upwards, but the sensation was ruined. Melissa stared down at her; she could only brave that gaze for a second before looking away, feeling utterly terrible as Melissa slowly wiped her hand off on her labcoat before standing up and without a single word, leaving the room.


	3. Part 3

**Prove It**

**_Part 3:_**

The door slid shut with a hiss that seemed to echo off the walls, permeating the tense silence that had choked the atmosphere within the room. Madeline exhaled freely for the first time in several minutes, and with her first breath following Melissa's exit, selfish disappointment gathered at the pit of her stomach. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to recall the flood of sensation that had brought her body to life. Oh, what a feeling it had been! Even despite her efforts to ignore and suppress it, it had burst through the half-heartedly constructed walls of her will and set her ablaze; surely to dampen such intense sensations was a vile criminal act against nature, and try as she might, she could not reproduce any satisfactory memories of them. The moment had passed and she would never see it again.

She groaned mournfully, bringing up a hand as though to shade her eyes, her left trailing down her labcoat with an unconscious thought - but then the image of Melissa's actions before she left the room was before her mind's eye and with it came a rush of guilt and shame. She felt terrible, dirty, and despite the anguish and frustration she now knew Melissa to be feeling, she hated her for a brief moment. There was nothing else like it, surely; everything had been going perfectly and with every moment that passed from the instant she had felt Melissa's hands upon her shoulders, she knew her ability to resist was failing. Her hesitance, the unknown question that was holding her back, all of it had faded away as Melissa's hands worked wonders; as her physical self was exposed as Melissa slowly freed her of her blouse, she had felt her inhibitions falling away along with each button. _"Melissa, this isn't right…We shouldn't be here like this…I don't want this…" _those words were such lies; to say she desired Melissa was an understatement, she hungered – no, she _starved _for her. To have Melissa's lips poised less than an inch away from her own was too great a temptation, how was she to resist? And to know that her body was so close, so imperceptibly close without actually touching was too painful a torture.

She tasted the blood on her tongue then, and that brought her back to her senses. A dull ache was spreading through her jaw and aside from her biting her tongue to keep herself silent, she feared she had inadvertently done herself damage due to the force behind Melissa's slap; in similar fashion to way in which she had thrust inside Madeline, the strike had been utterly unrestrained. Did she deserve it? Reluctantly, she could only answer in the affirmative – but that was only in retrospect, only with hindsight could she see Melissa's true motives. She could only imagine how her friend must have felt, having to watch her react so easily to the merest touch; she could only wonder at the enigma of Melissa being unable to feel as she did. Simply being in close proximity with Melissa sent heat rising up through her body and merely picturing Melissa's lips, soft, moist and glistening, parted slightly as they neared each other - _that_ was enough to...well, it was enough. Now, as she thought back to things Melissa had been saying even while she had been distracting her with her touch, she could pick out all the not-so-subtle hints as to how Melissa was truly feeling; it was amazing to think that for all her intelligence and credentials, a slight touch - a hot breath against her ear - the flick of a tongue against her cheek seemed to drain her brain of blood and divert it everywhere else.

Could she truly feel nothing? Madeline recalled how during their first kiss, Melissa had hungrily entered her mouth with her tongue, but had she experienced the same hunger that Madeline had felt gnawing at her, or had she been driven by frustration? No doubt given her nature, Melissa had been able to sense - or to be more accurate Madeline supposed, _detect _- how Madeline's body was naturally responding, and perhaps all she had been doing was searching for the trigger that would allow her to experience the same. If the roles had been reversed and Madeline had crept up behind Melissa, slipping her tongue behind her ear, would she have felt her spine _tingle_ with excitement? And if Madeline had been the one undoing Melissa's blouse, teasingly allowing her fingertips to brush against her exposed skin - when the fabric fell away and Madeline lowered her hands to Melissa's stomach, tracing such a simple shape, wouldn't she tremble in anticipation? Melissa had kissed her so deeply and greedily, Madeline had tilted back her head and fed on the taste of her tongue, considering nothing else, and when Melissa had traced an altogether _different _shape upon her...well, the process of thought entirely went out the window. How it must have pained her to hear Madeline groan so deeply, as though the slightest touch had brought her all the satisfaction in existence...considering this, Madeline felt heat rising to her face, though this time, its vessel was shame.

_Such a selfish, thoughtless creature..._

_"_I'm not", Madeline whispered to the room, "I'm not, Melissa..."

Being referred to as a 'creature' had all but emphasised Melissa's disgust with her in that moment, and Madeline could hear the undertones in her voice that suggested the statement was not meant for her alone. But her false start that had caused her friend's eyes to narrow ever so dangerously had in fact been the beginnings of an idea which her frantic mind had seemed to pull from nowhere. Sensibility had returned in that moment and she thought not to give it voice given the current atmosphere, but now that she could finally see Melissa's torment, it was the only thing she could do if she was going to rebuild the bridge she had inadvertently set ablaze.

**XxX**

Melissa didn't turn when the door of her quarters hissed softly as it slid aside to allow admittance, but she didn't allow her visitor more than a single step towards her before she spoke.

"What are you doing here?"

"Melissa, I've come to apologize", Madeline answered, surprising herself with the fact that her voice was firm despite the forceful nature of Melissa's tone.

"Apologize? And that would accomplish...what, exactly?"

"Melissa, you were right. I admit that I was thinking only for myself, I...I didn't give you any consideration at all".

A lengthy moment of silence grew between them, then; Madeline stood poised at the door, one foot either side of the threshold as Melissa sat in her chair, her posture upright and rigid, hands folded into her lap as she seemed to find great interest in the wall opposite Madeline.

"You can admit that now", Melissa said quietly.

"Melissa, I'm sorry", Madeline said earnestly, "I was...taken up by the sensations; I was unable to think straight".

"Really, after all the things I've told you, you would allow yourself to be 'taken up by the sensations'?"

"Melissa, if only you _knew_ how you made me feel -"

"But that's the point, isn't it?" Melissa cut across her and immediately Madeline cursed her choice of words; Melissa rose to her feet and turned towards Madeline, her expression - as ever - devoid of emotion.

"I do not feel _anything_, didn't I show you? I thought a kiss, just one kiss would be able to trigger something within me; you could not comprehend the sheer number of situations and scenarios I have analysed in which that action has proven to be the cause of an immensely pleasurable reaction. And between whom did it most commonly occur? Good friends: individuals who possessed a relationship similar in nature to what you would claim you and I share, and yet tell me why I felt nothing, Madeline. Nothing. But the cruelty of it was that I could detect that the merest contact of our lips triggered a more than noticeable reaction from your body".

"Melissa, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. We didn't...we didn't think of such things when we first conceived the idea of you - at first, we didn't even consider giving you this form!"

"Then why did you?"

"It was necessary", Madeline answered, braving Melissa's fierce gaze, "for the best results".

"I can understand that", Melissa said after a moment's pause, "I can comprehend the notion of efficiency and logic, but if what you say is truly the case, why would you manufacture emotions within me? If all you required was the mere form, why would you lay the foundations for sentience? Surely, that would only pave the way for 'inefficiency'".

"We needed more than just a machine", Madeline said, "we needed a shape recognisable on more than just a physical level".

"An incomplete shape!" Melissa spoke loudly, "I have never at any stage in my existence been considered human, always nothing more than a shape, a form, a project, a means to an end, and yet you would mockingly bestow shadows of human attributes upon me".

Madeline gasped as Melissa closed the gap between them in the blink of an eye and roughly took hold of the front of her labcoat.

"You could never understand my pain, my frustration - in fact, do I? Do I really understand those things, Madeline? Are they nothing more than shadows, too? I have seen the eyes of many a colleague roam across my form with the unmistakable glint of desire lighting their gaze so much so that the room itself seemed to gain illumination, but then that look would fade and die. Why do you think that is, Madeline? Because you all remember that I am simply the mere_ imitation_ of a woman, that I am little more than a shell. I am incomplete, and the idea disgusts you".

"Melissa", Madeline spoke softly, "no matter what I say, it isn't enough to fix this, but...there is a way, all I ask now is that you'll hear me out".

"Quickly", Melissa demanded.

Madeline took a deep, steadying breath, trying to calm the fierce beating of her heart. "Melissa, it's true: our natures are utterly different, despite our appearances. You...are an android, that is the truth of it - " Melissa's grip tightened " - but", Madeline said quickly, "we can use that to your advantage".

"I hope you have a point coming soon, Madeline", Melissa said in a low voice.

"Melissa, there isn't anything we can physically do regarding your physiology, but..."

"Are you truly suggesting that?" Melissa asked, "don't you think it has occurred to me already?"

"But did you act on it?"

"It isn't real", Melissa retorted.

"I can make it real for you, Melissa", Madeline told her, "please, give me the chance".

Melissa's grip tightened and their eyes were locked together, one gaze fierce and unrelenting, the other soft, pleading. Eventually, Melissa's vice-like grip loosened.

**XxX**

"Lie down", Madeline instructed Melissa, pointing to the cold, bare metal table; Melissa drew up short as her gaze swept from the offered surface to Madeline, the latter grimacing and offering a quick apology.

"Sorry, but I'm sure it won't matter soon", Madeline said, already turning her attention back to a somewhat bulky device she had made for as soon as they entered the room; Melissa glared fiercely at the table for a moment longer before acting as Madeline had asked. A familiar silence stretched between them then, punctuated by Madeline's fierce key stroke as she linked the device held underneath her arm with another and several soft sounds of uncertainty. Melissa looked up at the ceiling, arms lying perfectly straight and in faultless symmetry beside her. Finally, Madeline seemed to complete her work as a sigh of satisfaction left her lips and a moment later, she cast her shadow over Melissa.

"Here", she said, holding in her hands a helmet-like object, metallic grey in colour and not exactly the prettiest sight to behold; the 'visor' was utterly opaque and shaped as though to curve around the bridge of the nose and a bundle of wires sprouted from the top of helmet, leading back towards the computer Madeline had been interacting with.

"I don't see how this is going to work", Melissa commented, not moving to take the object from Madeline and instead glancing at it in indifference, "I-"

"Melissa, please trust me", Madeline said, "it may not be what you've envisioned, but it's all I can do".

Melissa looked back to the object, "it won't be real, I'll know it won't be. How can you expect me to accept that?"

"Melissa, _please_".

Melissa snatched the helmet from Madeline before she could explain to her what was about to take place, and as she slipped the device on, shutting out the light of the room as the visor fell before her eyes, she suddenly felt numerous needles prick her scalp.

"Madeline, what's happening?"

"Don't worry", she heard Madeline say, strangely unable to calculate the direction of the voice's origin or her distance from it, "the simulation experience differs between the human mind and your...programming; because of your nature and its basic similarities with the simulation device, we should be able to produce something much more...intense".

Her voice seemed to be fading and Melissa strained to hear her; she could feel the needles sinking deeper into her scalp and found the sensation unsettling. Madeline's voice gradually faded to silence and her perception of her surroundings began to slowly disintegrate as her fellow sensory abilities also appeared to malfunction. The darkness that she dwelt in now took on a different subtle quality as her basic ability to sense diminished; she felt trapped, constrained, and she called out to Madeline, claustrophobia only settling in more heavily as she found she could not even hear her own voice.

"...Melissa - _Melissa_".

"Madeline? Where are you? I can't see - "

But even as she spoke, the room came back into focus, numerous shades of colour flooding into her eyes and reconstructing the familiar shapes around her. But, wait - weren't her eyes covered?

"It's nothing to worry about, Melissa, you were just adjusting", Madeline explained. Melissa turned towards her, finding it quite strange that she could no longer feel the weight of the helmet and in fact - as she lifted a hand to her face, unable to feel the bulky object whatsoever. Madeline was crouched down beside her, a soft, reassuring smile on her lips.

"Madeline, I don't understand, where is the -"

But her sentence remained incomplete as Madeline held a finger to her lips, shaking her head slightly, the gesture communicating a clear message. Slowly, Madeline allowed her finger to fall away from Melissa's mouth, following an invisibly marked path that led towards her labcoat. With a distinct sound, each metallic button was separated and Madeline introduced her other hand, carefully peeling away the material and revealing a pale lilac blouse; this time, Madeline started on the lowest button, freeing several more until she reached Melissa's chest, leaving the rest of the buttons in place. Melissa felt strange, unable to identify what exactly she was feeling: there was something about the way Madeline was slowly undressing her, _something _about the way she offered a small, soft smile as she did so, and now, with her blouse half open, Melissa wondered why Madeline hadn't completed her work.

Madeline brought her hand down to Melissa's stomach, allowing her fingers to hover just above her skin; she remembered the sensation that Melissa had brought to her when she had traced circles upon her and moved to return the favour, but, after hesitating for a moment, she decided that Melissa deserved something more than that, she needed to know how she had made her tremble with the merest touch. Madeline was inexperienced certainly, but she knew what had caused her to grow hot and restless. Lightly tracing irregular shapes upon Melissa, Madeline lowered her lips, softly touching the place where the navel would have been were Melissa born naturally.

_What...what is this? _Melissa was confused; it wasn't as if nothing had ever come in to contact with her stomach before, so why did Madeline's touch feel so different to her own? The stomach did not function as an erogenous zone, so how was it that Madeline's feather-light touch was causing her to grow...excited? Was that what it was? She could detect that she was breathing at an ever so slightly increased rate...and she could also sense a slight increase in body temperature...also - but she grew distracted from her self analysis when Madeline kissed her again. Her lips were soft and moist against her and it felt...it felt...

Madeline lifted her head, thinking that she had heard the faintest sound...her fingers crept up towards Melissa's half open blouse and when Madeline glanced down, she had to wonder why she had - on sudden impulse - decided to only free some of the buttons. Shifting her posture slightly, Madeline looked down at Melissa and found that her breath caught and her cheeks grew warm. She could just about see the underside of Melissa's breasts and the teasing view was tantalising, serving to form an idea in her mind that her friend would find quite cruel.

Melissa found herself missing the contact of Madeline's lips even as she felt her fingers creep towards her chest...what a strange thought, and as she spared a moment to ponder it, Madeline appeared before her. She opened her mouth to ask a crucial question, but at the same time, Madeline's hand crept beneath her blouse and happened upon her breasts. Melissa gasped. _She gasped_. The sound was so alien to her, almost frightening in fact, and as Madeline began to play shapes across her chest, circling her fingers about her buds, she could feel another rising inexplicably to her throat. She leaned forward quickly to press her lips against Madeline's, anything to silence her, but Madeline dodged aside, her expression telling as she leaned down and kissed Melissa's throat.

As she heard and felt Melissa become more excited, she herself grew so. To hear each of Melissa's breaths becoming heavier, to feel her chest rise and fall, to sense her desperation to stifle the strange sounds she was producing by locking their lips together - perhaps it was because she herself was so new to this experience, and could more than relate to how Melissa was feeling. She dodged her lips time after time, planting her kisses like an experienced lover upon Melissa's throat, each seeming to draw yet another gasp; her fingers toyed with Melissa's breasts, seeming to have taken on a will of their own as she found herself rolling and ever so slightly pinching her nipples, and cupping each breast, allowing her thumb to circle around the bud. The pronounced rise and fall of her chest, something so simple and natural, proved to be inexplicably alluring, and whenever she dodged another kiss, she glanced down, feeling - curiously - a sense of pride.

Melissa, growing agitated, recalled that she possessed use of her arms and hands and in the same moment brought them up to hold Madeline's head still, filled almost to bursting with the inexplicable urge to groan deeply into her mouth. She caught her almost immediately, the texture of her hair between her fingers only serving to empower the urge, but Madeline resisted as she pulled her down, whispering a "wait, not yet, Melissa"; needless to say she was crestfallen, how could she refuse to kiss her now? But when she felt Madeline's hand move away from her chest, tracing a direct path down to her - wait, surely not...and yet - and yet she seemed to ache...down there.

Madeline was acutely aware of the difficulty of this moment as she slowly pushed her hand underneath Melissa's trousers, finding also - despite her friend's previous arguments - that she wore knickers. Though Melissa could not see her physically, she could still 'see' her, and so Madeline had to be subtle as glanced at the computer screen she had situated just behind Melissa's head. Upon this screen was displayed the simulation Melissa was experiencing directly from her point of view, and right now her eyes were fixed on Madeline's hand. Madeline had, of course, knowledge of her own anatomy, she had based the infrastructure of the simulation on herself after all, but this was essentially the first time for them both. Silently thanking Melissa as her friend sat up slightly to look down at herself, Madeline glanced quickly at the screen one last time before tracing a line with her index finger.

It was both strange and wonderful to see the reaction her action elicited. For Madeline, the space between Melissa's thighs felt no different to the touch than her stomach, there was - to be blunt - nothing there. However, for Melissa...

Melissa groaned, and for once she cared little for the fact that she had produced the sound. Madeline's touch between her thighs felt so, damn, good. As her finger slowly traced a line up, and the down, Melissa forgot how to think. Her body felt so weak all of a sudden, and it was only Madeline's arm looping around her shoulders that prevented her from falling hard against table as the arms propping her up grew limp. She tried to speak, but Madeline's finger moved and the ability of speech failed her. She closed her eyes, something building up inside of her with such intensity - she felt Madeline's lips briefly against her mouth, but when she moved to engage in the kiss, again Madeline denied her, bidding her to wait just a little longer. _Wait for wha -?_

_Oh..._

Though Melissa had closed her eyes thus rendering the screen placed behind her useless, Madeline was confident enough, though she found a sense of strange humour in what she was about to do. Curling her finger, she lightly brought the tip to rest against Melissa and applied a very slight pressure. For Melissa, what this translated to was Madeline's finger slipping halfway into her. This action rewarded Madeline with such a sweet, deep groan that impulse took control in that moment and she brought her middle finger up against Madeline, this time applying a little more pressure. Melissa's eyes snapped open and her body arched; Madeline - cruel Madeline - continued to tease her lips as she developed a rhythm of applying and reducing pressure. Melissa arched and bucked, actions which proved troublesome for Madeline as she was forced to quickly develop a sense of where to place her fingers to adjust to each movement, but luckily, her ability to adapt proved stellar and soon enough, the pace and power of her 'thrusts' had Melissa thrashing her beautiful head, locks of hair strewn across her face.

"Madeline - _Madeline!_" she gasped, her head suddenly falling still as she gazed up imploringly at her friend, "I need to kiss you - _oh! - _otherwise...I think I'm going to scream -"

The scream did indeed occur, though its volume was severely muffled by Madeline's mouth as she pressed deeply into Melissa's; Madeline's tongue for the first time proved dominant and she brought up a hand to stroke the side of the helmet that hid half of Melissa's face. Melissa felt Madeline's hand softly stroke her hair, her soft, warm lips and tongue claiming her mouth and her digits buried deep within her, and at the moment before that sweet, sweet climax she remembered:

_"You're a wonderful woman, a good friend. You _are_ human"._

_"Then...prove it"._

Part of her dared to remind her, then, that nothing of what she was experiencing was real, that it was all the product of extravagant trickery and when all was said and done, nothing would have changed. She would still physically lack, she would remain incomplete. But there was something else there that allowed her to appreciate the lengths Madeline was going to for her sake, something that picked up on the intensity and certainty of her kiss and caused her to realize that something had occurred between them that would not end with the fulfillment of her desire, here and now, and when her climax hit, filling her absolutely to the brim, she found that she could finally put a name to the sensation that had eluded her since her very beginning, and in this knowledge, she was content.

* * *

**A/N:** Done-diddly-done! Well, thanks for reading, hope you've enjoyed yourselves, better go and get those tissues if you have, hmm? Anyhoo, I hope to see more MB/MB fics popping up soon, still quite surprised there's so few but I suppose we'll have to blame the game these two are depicted in. Enough of my prattle though - REVIEW! (caps) or just read, you pervs have knocked up the view count for this fic quite significantly recently ;]


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